A US judge has ordered a group of growers fighting for the right to grow new apple SweeTango into mediation with the University of Minnesota - the institute that developed the variety, reports US National Public Radio (npr.org).
The apple growers, mainly from Minnesota, are suing the university for freezing them out of an exclusive licensing agreement to produce SweeTango, which has experienced strong demand since its official release in 2009.
They claim they will be put out of business or seriously hurt by their exclusion from this lucrative deal, and question why a public university should be allowed to create a monopoly favouring one apple grower over another.
The University of Minnesota developed SweeTango as the successor to its popular Honeycrisp apple, and granted exclusive growing rights to a select grower cooperative led by Pepin Heights Orchard to ensure steady revenue and preserve variety quality, npr.org said.
The district judge presiding over the lawsuit, Lloyd Zimmerman, dismissed most of the claims last Friday and ordered all sides to appoint a mediator within 60 days to help resolve the dispute.
Lisa Lamm Bachmann, an attorney for the growers who filed the lawsuit, said the main issue for her clients was to be able to compete fairly for new apple varieties released by the university.
"We're optimistic about trying to find a resolution that works for everyone," she said.
Honeycrisp earned the University of Minnesota over US$8m in royalties before the US patent expired, npr.org said.
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